#83/2000 Project Cluster To Capable (12/1/09) 56K Beware

Started tearing into #83 this weekend. I did some very basic cleaning, as I didn't have a whole lot of time to do anything. I put the car on the lift and just started looking things over.

I noticed a few things.

The downpipe flex joint is shot, but that's not a bad thing because I have a reason to buy a new exhaust. :P

There's a decent amount of rust on the car that I will have to deal with quickly. It's in all four corners of the body. It looks like someone put jackstands under these spots and crushed them a bit.

The front axle (or cv shaft?) boot is torn. I think that means replacement soon, but I'm a neophyte on this stuff.

I painted the two "subframes" that run front to back under the engine. I just took them off and cleaned up the road grime and painted them. It's a start and was an easy fix. Hopefully, I can work on the car and not get terribly dirty.

Cut out the affected parts if it's not too widespread and weld in new metal is my plan. Not sure how that's going to go without checking it out more. I don't really care how it looks under the car, just need it to be rust free.

Replaced the LF CV shaft today. Finally got the old piece off of the intermediate shaft with help from the board here. Thanks again for that.

Anyways, I also replaced the lower ball joint while I was in there. I noticed quite a bit of slop and the boot was torn. I also put the lower control arm in the parts washer and spray bombed it black.

I started disassembly on the right front to replace that ball joint as well. I also noticed the boot is torn on that side as well. It's going to stay apart until next paycheck and then that side will get a new CV.

While I was fixing the left side, I noticed this bolt on the alternator. I'm assuming it's not supposed to stick out like that. Is that a super long bolt or does a tensioner go on there? I'm sure quite a few of you are familiar with alternator removal. :P

That's what I figured, just didn't really want to poke around there at this time. It'll make the list of shit to do though. I have lots more respect for the people who dd these cars. I now know what John was saying when he dd'ed his car, it was 1 day of maintenance a week.

Well, here's documentation of yet another problem. The MAS wiring harness was lengthened by about a foot with blue wire. Except he used blue wire for every wire in the harness. I'm not sure if I want to go to the junkyard and get a connector with a longer pigtail or just use butt connectors with at least different color wires. I was planning on using weatherpak connectors, but if I have to do 2 connections I probably wont. If I use the junkyard connector with a longer pigtail, I'll only have to make 1 splice. I'm just glad that when these problems get fixed, I'm fixing them correctly. Silver lining to every cloud I guess.

Quoting CarRacer:Well, here's documentation of yet another problem. The MAS wiring harness was lengthened by about a foot with blue wire. Except he used blue wire for every wire in the harness. I'm not sure if I want to go to the junkyard and get a connector with a longer pigtail or just use butt connectors with at least different color wires. I was planning on using weatherpak connectors, but if I have to do 2 connections I probably wont. If I use the junkyard connector with a longer pigtail, I'll only have to make 1 splice. I'm just glad that when these problems get fixed, I'm fixing them correctly. Silver lining to every cloud I guess.

Well, I started to tackle the wiring today. I started with cleaning up the MAS wiring setup. I decided that this will be a temporary fix. I'm going to get a junkyard pigtail and eliminate one of the junctions. Less joints, less possibilities for problems. I used a few "Solder and Seal" butt connectors we had in our shop. They work pretty slick, just put the wires inside and heat it up with a torch. The solder is already inside the connector and melts onto the wires. Then you heat the ends and it shrinks onto the wire. Pretty slick. After that, I covered it with some wire loom to cover up those gay blue wires. A decent temporary permanent fix.

I also have a few identify the part pictures for you guys. Both come off of the wiring harness section that the MAS sensor is on. One is a solenoid that has one electrical connector and 2 air lines running into it. It was hanging near the passenger cv axle for some reason. Another is a 2 prong female electrical connector.

Both of those 2-wire connectors are located near the air can from the factory. Both attach to solenoids like your second to last pic. One is the boost control solenoid and the other runs to the fuel pressure regulator. Neither of them are needed and most people that modify their cars just delete them.

Well, I did a little work today to get my car in shape to be able to drive for the MN meet on Friday. The car isn't registered, so I'll be trailering it to the meet. I just wanted to be able to drive it in the parking lot, for a couple of reasons. Most of those reasons being I'm lazy.

I buttoned up the intercooler piping I had taken apart. I was trying to comprehend what reason had been put into the construction and came up with nothing. I ended up using zipties to hold the intercooler core in place. I know how that sounds, but it was actually an upgrade over how it was mounted.

I also replaced a hard line that had been leaking on the 4WS. Luckily it was a return line, so I just used rubber hose in place of the metal line. I ran it from the pump on the rear end to the hard line near the front of the rear subframe. Only trick I had was getting the hose clamp tightened on top of the rear end. I ended up putting all of my 1/4" extensions on the nut driver and sneaking that past the housing. It worked well.

More fun today. I pulled the ECU so I could send it out to get recapped and socketed. So as I was pulling the harness plugs I noticed more electrical tape. Someone was poking around the main harness and put 3 wires back together with electrical tape. WTF.

According to this diagram he cut wires 3, 13, and 16 on the largest plug. I guess that means more soldering.

I replaced the grille clips with some on a grille I had bought at a junkyard. I took out the screen and painted it with some silver paint I had around. It turned out well, and the grille is actually attached to the car now.I replaced the hood release cable protector. I painted the one that went on to clean it up a bit.

I modified a DSM radio surround that I bought for 5 bucks to fit. I used 2 pieces of 3/8 hard brake line to make spacers for the lower 2 screws. It fits without any problems. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the blank space above it. I guess it was for an equalizer or something.

I did find this LED light in the space behind where the radio goes. I think it's one of those "chaser" led lights the ricers use to simulate a car alarm. Not really sure though.

I made a bracket to mount an oil pressure gauge in the A pillar pod. Also, note the cheap ass boost gauge. I don't know where he got it from. It screws together into the gauge pod. I'm tossing that thing next paycheck for an Autometer one.

I forgot to include that the Galant made the first strike of the battle this weekend!I was changing the routing of the boost gauge hose to the clutch hose grommet. I reached under the padding and grabbed the hose. Something under there on the firewall was crazy sharp cause it cut me without me putting much pressure on my hand. The Galant now knows what my blood tastes like, hope it doesn't develop an appetite.